Oct. 14, 2000
BELMONT, Calif. - If today's results are any indication, the Santa Clara men's and women's cross country teams should be successful at the upcoming West Coast Conference championships.
The men's team took the team title behind Charlie Brenneman's (Roseville, Calif.) individual championship today in the annual Bronco Invitational held at Crystal Springs Cross Country Course in Belmont. The women's squad finished third despite a heavy training schedule intended to help the Broncos peak at the league championships in two weeks.
Crystal Springs is scheduled to serve as the host for the WCC Championships and five league teams took advantage of the opportunity to run the course. Brenneman posted a 10,000-meter time of 25:55 over the hilly, rough-terrain course. SCU scored a season-low 27 points and clinched the team title with the finishes of Broncos Michael Helms (Poway, Calif.), Thomas Chapman (Fremont, Calif.) and Ben Gauen (Seattle, Wash.), who finished in fifth-through-seventh places. Freshmen Ricky Brackett finished 11th to round-out the team scoring for SCU.
San Jose State junior Ana Martinez took individual honors in the women's race, while Gonzaga took the team title with five runners finishing among the top 11 in the field. Sophomore Jenny Smokey (Minden, Nev.) led the Broncos for the fourth time in as many meets this season with a seventh-place finish in a 5,000-meter time of 19:36. Annie Gastelum (Minden, Nev.) was second on the squad, finishing in eighth-place. Milena Basile (Bellevue, Wash.) finished 19th, while Erin Skourtes (Portland, Ore.) and Allison Schaub (Woodinville, Wash.) came in 21st and 22nd to complete the scoring for SCU.
The WCC championships for both the men and women are scheduled for Oct. 28 at Crystal Springs.
